And the representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE, and separatist-held regions of eastern Ukraine have started their meeting in Minsk of the so-called Contact Group.
Our news desk also is reporting at least eight dead and more than 60 wounded in Kramatorsk shelling.
That's really it, in a nutshell.
Contact Group On Ukraine Assembles In Minsk
Representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE, and separatist-held regions of eastern Ukraine have arrived in Minsk for a meeting of the so-called Contact Group.
Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, OSCE special representative Heidi Tagliavini, and the authorized representatives from the two separatist regions -- Denis Pushilin from Donetsk and Vladislav Deinego from Luhansk, were all in the Belarusian capital for the February 10 meeting.
The Contact Group is the mechanism for talks between representatives of Ukraine, the pro-Russian rebels, Russia, and the OSCE, which produced a September 5 agreement on a cease-fire that failed to end the violence in east Ukraine.
The Contact Group representatives were meeting on the eve of a proposed summit of the leaders of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine, which is tentatively planned in Minsk on February 11.
Based on reporting by Interfax and Reuters
Kyiv's ambassador to the United Nations: